US Senator Bernard (Bernie) Sanders (I–VT) is a presidential hopeful and a longtime champion of climate action. In 2010 Sanders was among a dozen senators who sent a letter to then Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid enumerating four principles for energy and climate legislation. In 2013 Sanders was among those who sought ambitious climate legislation including a price on carbon. In 2014 he was one of a number of Senators who held an all night vigil urging action on climate change.
Sanders has also brought his climate activism to the Senate floor including a motion to impose national carbon reduction and an amendment to Keystone XL legislation that forces Republicans to go on record regarding their denial of climate change.
In this homemade video Bernie makes the case for why we must act to combat climate change.
In this video from 2013 Bernie schools Republicans on anthropogenic global warming and berates their unconscionable denial of climate science. He advocates a science driven climate policy and derides the kind of misrepresentation and subterfuge that is at the heart of the Republican counter narrative. He specifically points to the influence of oil giants like the Koch brothers and Exxon Mobil.
Sanders talks about the cost of inaction and the fact that climate change is a national security issue. The time for waiting is over, we need bold action, Sanders said. “The United States needs to lead the world in a new direction…move away from fossil fuel [towards] sustainable energy.”
More recently he compared the GOP’s support for fossil fuels to the obfuscation that was perpetrated by the tobacco industry in the past. He pointed out that big oil owns the Republican Congress and he discusses how they use these lawmakers to spread deceitful propaganda. Bernie says we must stop listening to the lies and act now before it is too late. He further argues that we must not allow short term profits to jeopardize the lives of future generations.
